agricultural labor force

The number of people who work in agriculture. This is important because a large value indicates that the country is likely an LDC dependent on agriculture, while a small value indicates that there are fewer people working in agriculture, meaning that the agriculture is more efficient.

calorie consumption

As a percentage of daily requirement is an important index of development. People in MDCs generally consume more than 130% of their daily requirements, but most people in LDCs barely get enough to sustain themselves. The problem is worst in Africa, where most people do not eat enough.

Development

Energy Consumption

An indicator of development. MDCs tend to consume much more energy per capita than do LDCs. This will be important in the future because as LDCs begin to industrialize, there will be a great strain on the world's energy supply

Purchasing Power Parity

W.W. Rostow

in 1960 proposed a widely cited model for economic advancement. Generalizing on the "sweep of modern history," he theorized that all developing economies may pass through five successive stages of growth and advancement.

Acid rain

Agglomeration

A process involving the clustering or concentrating of people or activities. The term often refers to manufacturing plants and businesses that benefit from close proximity because they share skilled-labor pools and technological and financial amenities.

Break-of-bulk point

Canadian industrial heartland

the St. Lawrence Valley - Ontario Peninsula. The region has several assets: centrality to the Canadian market, proximity to the Great Lakes, and access to inexpensive hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls.

Comparative advantage

Circular and cumulative causation

a process through which tendencies for economic growth are self-reinforcing; an expression of the multiplier effect, it tends to favor major cities and core regions over less advantaged peripheral regions

Deglomeration

Deindustrialization

process by which companies move industrial jobs to other regions with cheaper labor, leaving the newly deindustrialized region to switch to a service economy and to work through a period of high unemployment

International division of labor

International organization

"Just in time" manufacturing

a manufacturing system in which materials used for manufacturer and/or sale are produced precisely at the time they are needed. As a result, no costly storage of inventory is required. Electronic record-keeping and communication about inventory and needs has made this system possible

High-technology corridors

Substitution principle

Principle that maintains that the correct location of a production facility is where the net profit is the greatest. Therefore in industry, there is a tendency to substitute one factor of production (e.g., labor) for another (e.g., capital for automated equipment) in order to achieve optimum plant location.

World cities

Fourth-level cities

dependent centers, provide relatively unskilled jobs and depend for their economic health on decisions make in the world cities, regional command and control centers, and specialized producer-service centers. Four subtypes of dependent centers can be identified in the United States